Welcome

What a joy and source of pride to welcome Octavio Solis to the Peet’s Theatre for the first ever production of his work at Berkeley Rep. While he is lauded up and down the West Coast (and across the country) he has not been produced here until now, though he made his home in the Bay Area for many years. Particularly interesting, perhaps, as he has written such an exquisite play about the journey to home, even if that home is as unknown and unknowable as California was for Steinbeck’s Joads, who inspired this story. And for their descendants, as embodied in Mother Road’s William Joad and Martín Jodes, and the fellow travelers he gathers (Wizard of Oz style) as he travels in the reverse journey from California to that infamous farm in Oklahoma.

One of the beauties of Octavio’s play is the way in which he upends the tropes of traditional Americana, from the roadtrip to the diner to the roadside motel. All reinvented and repurposed, much as he reclaims the notion of a Greek chorus and allows us to experience anew that specific representation of community — an ancient form reshaped in David Mendizábal’s production to bridge the contemporary world and the ageless tradition it references.

As you watch this performance, perhaps you will take a moment to contemplate the road that brought you here; what safety you abandoned in favor of the unknown; the fellow travelers who joined you along the way; and whether the journey might shape your understanding of yourself, this moment, and the adventures that lie ahead.

Thanks for traveling with us.

Warmly,

Johanna Pfaelzer | Artistic Director

Your Berkeley Rep journey this season ends on the Mother Road with Octavio Solis’ 21st-century response to John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. Thank you for joining us this season, which featured both local California stories and shows that aim for Broadway and beyond. There is great energy and momentum at your theatre right now, and that is due in no small part to your patronage and charitable support.

As you have come to expect, Berkeley Rep’s next season is packed with top-notch storytelling, in intimate venues, sure to inspire, provoke, entertain, and create cherished memories. Thank you to the thousands who have already signed up for our 2024/25 season, which begins in the fall with the electrifying hip-hop, live-looping musical Mexodus about the Underground Railroad’s southern route into Mexico, told by the astonishingly talented Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson.

If you haven’t already, subscribe today, so you don’t miss this groundbreaking, theatrical experience of resilience and resistance — or any of the other magic, wonder, and joy ahead next season. The most affordable, flexible, and popular option is our Full Season package, which guarantees you seats at all seven shows well before performances sell out, which they certainly will. Or you can purchase a Choose Your Own package and curate your own Berkeley Rep experience. Subscribing also grants you early and discounted access to added events like The Best of Second City, running this July across the courtyard in the Roda Theatre.

From all of us at Berkeley Rep, best wishes for a fun and safe summer.

Enjoy the show!

Tom Parrish | Managing Director